Red Bull will run Pierre Gasly on both days of the Silverstone in-season test, with the Frenchman seeking to earn a seat at Toro Rosso in 2017.
Carlos Sainz was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver for next season ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, with Red Bull taking up an option on the Spaniard. Daniil Kvyat is currently his team-mate having been swapped with Max Verstappen at the senior team, but team principal Christian Horner said he expects Kvyat to remain as part of an unchanged line-up because “there’s not an obvious candidate knocking on the door at the moment that would warrant that seat.”
Despite those comments, Gasly - who has failed to win a race for more than 1000 days after spinning out of the lead of the GP2 feature race in Austria - will get a chance to test for Red Bull in Silverstone following the British Grand Prix.
“Gasly [on both days] because we used our race drivers in Barcelona,” Horner confirmed.
Asked if it is a final audition for Gasly to try and secure a Toro Rosso seat, Horner replied: “He’s under contract with options for multiple years.
“Of course any time you get an opportunity to drive a Formula One car you have to grab it with both hands. So he’s got an important job to fulfil at the test next week.”
Gasly tested for Toro Rosso during the Barcelona in-season test earlier this year, and currently sits eighth in the GP2 standings.
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